hanifl nature center, JULY 28 - DEC. 31, 2023

In 2023, the Minnesota Zoo launched the debut art exhibit of its brand new Hanifl Nature Center in conjunction with the Zoo’s newly opened and long-awaited project, The Treetop Trail (which brings visitors up to 32 feet above the ground, immersed in nature). The Hanifl Nature Center is a central access point to the Trail and is dedicated to nature education and trees. 

The art exhibit, Rooted in Nature: Inspired by Trees, features select Minnesota artists’ works centering around the themes of Human Connections, Parts of a Tree, Trees through the Seasons, and Minnesota Trees. Artist Stephanie Mirocha presents 3 of her artworks displayed in the exhibit on the theme, Parts of a Tree. 

All three paintings zoom the viewer in to the closeup world of trees -- an Ohio buckeye blossom in spring, a “flowering” red pine pinecone, and a cluster of newly emerged red maple samaras, (a.k.a. helicopter wings). Created in watercolors of different sizes, the paintings depict Mirocha’s joyful connection and inspiration arising from trees.